1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to message notification systems configured for sending a notification message to a subscriber having received a message according to subscriber notification preferences, and subscriber directory systems configured for storing the subscriber notification preferences.
2. Description of the Related Art
The evolution of the public switched telephone network has resulted in a variety of voice applications and services that can be provided to individual subscribers and business subscribers. Such services include voice messaging systems that enable landline or wireless subscribers to record, playback, and forward voice mail messages. However, the ability to provide enhanced services to subscribers of the public switched telephone network is directly affected the limitations of the public switched telephone network. In particular, the public switched telephone network operates according to a protocol that is specifically designed for the transport of voice signals; hence any modifications necessary to provide enhanced services can only be done by switch vendors that have sufficient know-how of the existing public switched telephone network infrastructure.
For example, existing messaging systems such as voice mail messaging systems rely on a proprietary notification system that has limited adaptability to expanded notification schemes. For example, the simplest type of notification system involves a message waiting indicator on a telephone connected to a private branch exchange (PBX), where the PBX asserts a message waiting indicator signal in response to receiving a proprietary command from a connected voice mail system. A more advanced system may initiate a page to a subscriber""s pager indicating reception of the stored voice message. In each of these cases, however, the notification process necessarily relies on the proprietary features of the PBX and the associated voice mail system.
Wireless based communications system have voice messaging systems that notify a wireless subscriber via his or her wireless telephone of a stored voicemail message. Such notification systems are beneficial in cases where the subscriber was making another call on his or her wireless telephone, or if the subscriber""s wireless telephone was previously unavailable due to being turned off or outside a service area. Such wireless based communications systems, however, rely on the proprietary features of the wireless indications system in order to notify the wireless subscriber.
Short Message Services (SMS) have been implemented in wireless telephone communications systems as a way to send a message to a subscriber""s cellular phone to notify the subscriber that he or she has received a new voice mail. A messaging server, also referred to as a Short Message Service Center (SMSC), is configured for receiving a notification message from a messaging source according to Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol (SMPP). The messaging source may be, for example, a voice mail system, a paging system, or an e-mail interface resident within the wireless telephone communications system. The SMSC, in response to receiving the notification message from the messaging source, transmits a short message to the cellular phone based on the destination telephone number specified within the notification message. However, this arrangement still provides only limited flexibility in enabling different sources to send a notification to a cellular phone. Hence, the above-described arrangement still lacks sufficient flexibility and scalability to enable messaging subscribers to select the means for notification.
Unified communications systems are under development as a way of enhancing messaging services for users such-as wireless telephone subscribers. A disadvantage of unified communications systems implemented as enhanced versions of the voice mail system, paging system, or e-mail interface resident within the wireless telephone communications system is that such implementation requires detailed knowledge of the proprietary protocols associated with the voice mail systems. Hence, such implementations are available only from switch vendors having knowledge of the proprietary protocols.
Use of a unified communications system implemented independent of the existing proprietary voice mail systems enables service providers to use scalable and distributed systems using recognized communication protocols. Hence, the service providers may use such unified communications systems across multiple platforms, independent of protocol, for storage of various types of messages, for example voice messages, facsimile, and e-mail stored in a centralized messaging store. However, the problem still remains that there exists several different types of notification devices, such as a pager, a phone indicator light, stutter dial tone, facsimile, and telephone. Moreover, for each message that enters a messaging store, one or more subscribers may need to be notified over one or more different notification devices. Finally, the different types of notification devices have respective notification protocols, increasing the complexity in designing a notification source for sending a notification to different types of notification devices.
Commonly-assigned, copending application Ser. No. 09/629,052, filed Jul. 31, 2000, entitled Arrangement for Common-Format Notification Delivery Messages Based on Notification Device Type in an IP-based Notification-Architecture, the disclosure of which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, discloses a notification architecture that utilizes multiple processes configured for managing notification operations based on reception of SMTP-based messages within IMAP based message stores. The notification architecture includes a notification process, configured for receiving notification messages for respective subscribers from messaging sources according to Internet Protocol. The notification process accesses subscriber profile information from an open protocol-based subscriber directory (such as LDAP) based on the received notification messages. The notification process determines, for each received notification message, the subscriber""s notification preference based on the accessed profile information, and selectively outputs a notification delivery message according SMTP protocol to at least one notification delivery process within the notification architecture based on the subscriber""s notification preference. The notification process may have access via the prescribed open protocol to multiple notification delivery processes, each configured for outputting a notification to a subscriber""s notification device according to a corresponding device protocol. Hence, subscribers may be notified of events according to their respective preferences, including subscriber device type, or time of notification. The notification process also generates the notification delivery message using selected portions of the notification information and subscriber information based on the notification device type, providing a common format for device specific notification messages. Hence, each notification delivery process can receive device specific notification messages according to a common format from the notification process or another external process.
An important consideration in effective deployment of the notification architecture illustrated in the above-incorporated application Ser. No. 09/629,052 is that the subscriber""s notification preference is stored and retrieved in the subscriber directory in a manner that enables flexible selection of different notification devices. For example, a service provider configured for serving subscriber devices (i.e., local devices) assigned within a service provider network may have sufficient device information for sending a notification to the local device. However, a notification subscriber may wish to use a notification device that is not a local device, but rather is assigned to a different provider network (e.g., a different SMS network or paging provider). Hence, a subscriber directory may be incapable of providing notification information for non-local devices due to the nature in which the subscriber preference information and device information are stored and managed in the subscriber directory.
There is a need for an arrangement that provides an open standards-based architecture for delivering notification for unified messaging systems over a broad range of notification devices, independent of the service provider serving the notification devices.
There also is a need for an arrangement that provides a scalable notification architecture that can manage subscriber notification preferences for notification via subscriber-selected devices in a flexible and scalable manner.
These and other needs are attained by the present invention, where a directory management process, configured for storing subscriber notification preference information in an open protocol-based subscriber directory (such as LDAP), stores, as a first object class, notification attributes for respective notification types, each notification attribute specifying for the corresponding notification type a corresponding notification device tag. The notification device tag can include native device information usable to generate a message for a corresponding native notification device. The subscriber management process selectively stores, as a second object class, device attributes for a non-native notification device referenced by the notification device tag, one of the device attributes specifying service provider information for the non-native notification device. The subscriber management process also selectively stores, as a third object class, service provider attributes based on the service provider information specified in the device attributes. Hence, the storage of subscriber notification preference information using a hierarchal structure of multiple object classes provides a schema enabling an efficient management of relatively complex device information for different notification devices having respective protocols and service providers. Hence, notification subscribers having different notification devices in communication with respective service providers can store all notification preference information for all the different notification devices in a single, unified subscriber directory.
One aspect of the present invention provides a method in a subscriber directory of storing subscriber notification preference information. The method includes storing a first object class of notification attributes for respective notification types, each notification attribute specifying for the corresponding notification type a corresponding notification device tag for notification to a corresponding notification device. The method also includes selectively storing a second object class of device attributes for at least one of the notification devices based on a prescribed condition of the at least one notification device, the second object class of device attributes specifying information necessary for generating a notification message to the corresponding notification device, the corresponding notification device tag for the at least one notification device referencing the corresponding second object class. The selective storage of a second object class of device attributes enables the subscriber notification preference information stored in the subscriber directory to be organized in a flexible manner that utilizes additional object classes based on the level of specificity required for sending a notification to a prescribed notification device. Hence, the notification device tag for a native notification device may require only a device address that is recognized by the notification processes accessing the subscriber directory; if additional information is necessary for accessing the notification device, for example if proprietary protocols are used, the second object class (and additional object classes) may be added to provide sufficient information for gene ration of the notification message for the corresponding notification device. Hence, the subscriber directory is able to store subscriber notification preference information for all notification devices, independent of the service provider serving the notification devices.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a server configured for storing subscriber notification preference information in a subscriber directory, the server including an open-protocol network interface configured for receiving a request from a requesting resource according to an open-network protocol, and a directory management process. The directory management process is configured for storing, according to the request, the subscriber notification preference information in the subscriber directory as a first object class of notification attributes for respective notification types, and selectively as a second object class of device attributes for at least one of the notification devices. Each notification attribute specifies for the corresponding notification type a corresponding notification device tag for notification to a corresponding notification device, the directory management process""selectively storing the second object class based on a prescribed condition of the at least one notification device, the second object class of device attributes specifying information necessary for generation of a notification message to the corresponding notification device, the corresponding notification device tag for the at least one notification device referencing the corresponding second object class.
Additional advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the present invention may be realized and attained by means of instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.